Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Crack down on crimes

EVE-TEASING TO extortion and waylaying form part of the cases tackled by the Thampanoor police. The profiles of the complainants are equally varied.

Some are passengers alighting at the Central Railway station or the KSRTC main bus-stand. There are girl students reporting eve-teasing and exhibitionism from the tutorial-clustered areas of Manjalikulam and Ayurveda College. Rarely, cases of sex-workers and pimps acting in tandem to rob unsuspecting clients also draw police attention.

Traders complaining of extortion at the hands of organised criminal gangs based at Thoppu colony, Chenkalchoola and Kannettumukku areas, commuters who have been relieved of their wallets during the course of their chaotic travel in crowded public transport vehicles, overcharging by autorickshaw drivers and refusal to take late night passengers on short-hauls form part of the range of cases the police have to attend to daily.

Several of these issues had figured prominently during the meetings between the police and representatives of the local community at Thampanoor as part of the Combined Action Against Thieves Cheats and Hooligans (CATCH-2003) programme of the city police constabulary.

Traders and residents of Thampanoor area had complained of extortion bids by youth with criminal background, particularly during local festivals such as that of the Attukal Temple. The SI (Thampanoor), K. Sasindran Nair, says that the CATCH meetings had instilled confidence in the community members to openly approach the police and give specific complaints. On the basis of this, several groups were held and booked on charges of extortion and intimidation during the last Attukal festival season. Some gangs, based in Kannettumukku, were warned and put on the notice by the police in the absence of specific charges against them.

The management of some women's hostel at Mele Thampanoor had complained of intruders, mostly voyeurs, at night. There were also reports of eve-teasing, exhibitionism and harassment of girl students by groups of youth along the tutorial-studded narrow by-lanes of Mele Thampanoor. Police claim that plainclothes men on patrol helped tackle the situation effectively and several ``flashers'', including one ``Chulla'' Babu were arrested.

The SI (Crime Bureau-Thampanoor), Purushothoman Nair, claims that no burglaries were reported from the police station limits in the past three months. The arrest of a large band of Tamil Nadu-based burglars, who plied their trade by staying at cheap lodges at Thampanoor, was the main reason for the lull. The police are looking for a gang led by one ``Bruce Lee'' Byju who, Mr. Nair says, is specialising in similar crimes.

The local police claim that they have been able to break the strong nexus between sex-workers and their middlemen at Thampanoor. Mr. Nair says that this nexus was responsible for scores of crimes in the area, mainly robbing passengers by promising them women. During the CATCH meetings, residents raised objection against pavements in the area being appropriated by street vendors during day and for sleeping by vagrants at night. Police say that several pick-pocks in the bus stand area were traced back to the migrant groups camping on the railway yard and also in the cavernous spaces below the Fly Over at Thycaud. This led to a police drive to rid the pavements of vendors and vagrants.

A spate of complaints against autorickshaw drivers by passengers prompted the police to open a register at the station house. Auto drivers who operate from Thampanoor after 6 p.m. have to enter their particulars, including address and vehicle registration number. This has helped the police to make errant autorickshaw drivers more accountable for their actions in the event of complaints from passengers alighting by rail and bus at Thampanoor.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Rehabilitation scheme for beggars to be speeded up
• Many pay channels disappear from cable network
• Crack down on crimes

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu